The Tag-n-Track Team went to the rescue of an injured Mute Swan this week. The team had been at Greenock Police Station checking on the gull chicks when they heard from Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue that a swan was in need of assistance. The team headed up to Murdieston Dam where a pair of Mute Swans are raising their six cygnets. The cygnets and female where lying out on the grass with the male nearby on the dam. The report from a member of the public was that the male had a fishing hook through the web of his foot and was trailing fishing line. We got one of the loaves of bread out the van that we use to catch the gulls and the male was soon out the water and made his way up the bank.

Hayley quickly grabbed him and with a pair of pliers soon removed two of the hooks from a triple hook out his foot. The puncture marks were small and as he has a family to look after it was decided he didn’t need any further treatment. Upon release he quietly sauntered back to his cygnets and finished off the remainder of the bits of bread we’d thrown to encourage him out.

His rescue was witnessed by a member of the public who told us about the family of swans and she agreed to keep her eyes peeled for any tagged gulls that might turn up at the dam. We measured the line and there was over three metres of it attatched to the lure. Discarded fishing hooks and line can cause a problem for all sorts of wildlife so please remember to look after your kit when out fishing and pick up any discarded line and hooks.